Sebelius said she bore ultimate responsibility
for what she characterized as a "debacle," and said she was "as frustrated and
angry as anyone with the flawed launch of HealthCare.gov."

A government contractor, Verizon's Terremark, was responsible for outages
that disrupted the website both Sunday and Tuesday, Sebelius said. The website
was down again Wednesday during Sebelius's testimony.

"No
one anticipated this level of problems," said Sebelius.

Thirty-two Republicans have
signed a letter urging President Obama to call for Sebelius' resignation and the questioning Wednesday often grew heated. Upton, who
has been a long-time critic of the Affordable Care Act, was not among the
signatories, who tend to hail from the most conservative wing of the party.

"Over the months
leading up to the Oct. 1 launch, the secretary and her colleagues at HHS
repeatedly looked us in the eye and testified that everything was on track.
Despite the numerous red flags and lack of testing, they assured us that all
systems were a go," said Upton, R, chairman of the House Energy and Commerce
Committee, during his opening statement. "But something happened along the way –
either those officials did not know how bad the situation was, or they did not
disclose it."

On Monday, Upton introduced legislation that would allow
Americans to
keep their current plan into 2014, even if it would have been canceled because
it does not meet the provisions of the new health-care law.

"There are also millions of Americans coast to coast who no
doubt believed the president's repeated promise that if they liked their plan,
they'd be able to keep it 'no matter what,'" said Upton. "They are now
receiving termination notices."

Sebelius countered that those plans often offered inadequate
care and would be replaced by new and better policies.

Saying that the law would ultimately benefit millions of
people, Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., said, "I would urge my colleagues to quit
hyperventilating."

Saying that the hearing was also about "transparency," Upton
also once again urged the secretary to reveal the precise number of Americans
who have enrolled so far.

Administration officials have said that the first numbers
will be released in mid-November, and Sebelius reiterated that during her
testimony.

At the close, Upton said that the committee would be asking Sebelius
to return for a second round of questioning in December.

"We're going to want real numbers," he said. "You'll have
them by then?"

Yes, Sebelius said, she would.

Yvonne Zipp is a staff writer at the Kalamazoo Gazette. Email her at yzipp@mlive.com or follow her on Twitter.